Forums are held most Monday nights during the term, either in the auditorium or the large meeting rooms on the first floor. Dinner is served starting at 6:40pm and the hour-long event starts at 7:00pm.

If you have questions, suggestions, or contact with a potential speaker, please get in touch with Marc Sandalow.

February 1: Anita Dunn

Obama confidante Anita Dunn shared her path from White House intern for President Carter to White House Communications Director for President Obama.

February 8: Alli McCracken

Alli McCracken talked to students about getting arrested after making a citizen’s arrest of former Sec. of State Henry Kissinger at a Congressional Hearing last year. McCracken is national co-director of CODEPINK: Women For Peace, whose protests against U.S. militarism have included interruptions at political conventions and State of the Union addresses.

February 22: Networking Night

UC Davis alumnus, Professor Scott Talan, led a micro-lecture on how to use LinkedIn to maximize job prospects and speed networking sessions for UC alumni and UCDC students. See pictures.

February 29: Felicia Escobar

Felicia Escobar, President Obama’s top immigration aide and UCLA Law graduate, told students that she was not optimistic about Congress agreeing to any substantial immigration reforms during the President’s final year in office.

March 7: Thea Lee

Thea Lee, Deputy Chief of Staff and trade expert at the AFL-CIO, urged students to read portions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to see for themselves how weakly workers are protected in the trade deal promoted by President Obama. Lee also criticized Uber and other companies offering cheap services in the gig economy for skirting labor laws.

March 28: Irene Glowinski

Dr. Glowinski is the acting director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at NIAID. She majored in organic chemistry at American University in Washington, DC and received her Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Michigan. She oversees a billion-dollar budget and 200 people, who work in concert with researchers at private firms to combat Ebola, influenza, Zika virus, and tuberculosis, among other infectious diseases.

April 4: Hope Hall

Presidential Videographer Hope Hall described her long and winding road from being a UC Berkeley French and History major to following President Obama with a camera and producing The White House videos.

April 11: Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader is the nation’s best known consumer advocate. An author, lawyer and presidential candidate, Nader’s 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed led to federal laws mandating seatbelts in automobiles. His work was instrumental in creating the EPA, OSHA, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Safe Drinking Water Act. In the past decade, Nader has dedicated himself to taking on corporate interests and the nation’s two-party system.